A study released this week provides details on a new species of Pterosaur discovered near Dinosaur National Monument. The study, published in the Nature, Ecology & Evolution journal, states that this new species had about a five foot wingspan and was preserved in sandstone. As a result it is considered a very rare find because the delicate bone structure was preserved and provided details not previously known in early pterosaurs. “It shows that the earliest pterosaurs were geographically widely distributed and ecologically diverse, even living in harsh desert environments,” shares the study. “It is the only record of desert-dwelling non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs and predates all known desert pterosaurs by more than 65 million years.” Recently retired from Dinosaur National Monument, paleontologist Daniel Chure is listed as a contributor to the study and actually discovered the site of the new pterosaur species.
Artist Impression of New Pterosaur Species-Copyright Michael Skrepnick 2018
